A two-pronged multi-million pound project to ease congestion and improve cycling facilities in Farnborough and between Aldershot and Camberley is on the horizon.

Tabled by Hampshire County Council (HCC), the £8.7m Farnborough Growth Package scheme will focus on roads, while the £21m Blackwater Valley Gold Grid scheme will target public transport.

Working with Stagecoach and Surrey County Council, the council is proposing to improve transport links along the A3011 Lynchford Road, the A325 Farnborough Road and Farnborough Town Centre.

Of the £8.7m total for the Farnborough Growth Package, £2m will come from developers' contributions with the remaining £6.7m from Local Growth Fund money, allocated to HCC by Enterprise M3 Local Enterprise Partnership - it recently identified Farnborough as a "growth town".

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Funding for the Blackwater Valley Gold Grid public transport improvements is made up of £8m from Enterprise M3 with £13m of "local contributions", HCC says, but the amount the council will include is yet to decided.

HCC has already undertaken feasibility work and says "the current levels of funding available mean that only a relatively small proportion of identified interventions can be implemented in the short term, to 2021."

The council now wants the public to have its say on which aspects of the project should be prioritised.

In a report from the director of economy, transport and environment, HCC identifies the areas it recommends should be transformed first.

Lynchford Road in Farnborough (Image: Grahame Larter)

These include capacity improvements in Lynchford Road, improved access to Invincible Road Industrial Estate and improvements to Farnborough Main Station forecourt and bus stop.

HCC has identified potential "deliverability issues" of the above schemes, mainly in Lynchford Road, which will require the acquisition of Ministry of Defence land.

The Gold Grid proposals for Farnborough Main Station will require the full agreement of the new South Western Railway franchise.

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Therefore, the council says, it is recommended "work continues to develop other components of the Farnborough Growth Package that have fewer deliverability risks."

Each area recommended for improvement has a number of options listed in the consultation, available to view online by clicking here.

Public consultation

At his decision day on November 14 Councillor Rob Humby, executive member for environment and transport at HCC, approved the launch of a public consultation, which started on November 27.

Cllr Humby said: “We are looking at an ambitious set of proposals to address congestion on the roads, and improve public transport, walking and cycling on the A3011 Lynchford Road, A325 corridor and Farnborough Town.

Lynchford Road is another road that is earmarked for changes (Image: Google Maps)

"We already have some provisional funding secured to start delivering the improvements, so we would like to see what local residents and businesses would like us to prioritise first.”